The fall session of the legislature demonstrated the kind of leadership the NDP government gives to Saskatchewan, said Deputy-Premier Clay Serby on Nov. 30.

Premier Lorne Calvert made significant inroads when he gained $360 million in new equalization money for the province, said Serby. "It was unprecedented that he was able to do that."

That's nonsense, said Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Brenda Bakken.

The extra $900 million windfall Saskatchewan had to spend this year was because of the higher price of oil and the one-time equalization grant change, she said.

It's hypocritical for the government to say it's showing leadership and growing the province when it talks about proclaiming a labour bill that is the most damaging thing to happen to business and investment, she said.

It will hurt employees who want to find part-time jobs just as much as employers, she said. The bill wasn't proclaimed 10 years ago because another NDP government realized it is unworkable, she said.

Serby said Calvert also showed leadership on the health file when he gained another $66 million in health care funding this year from Ottawa, with another $100 million to come in the next two years.

"He negotiated a far better package for Saskatchewan and Canada, and that shows the strength of our premier," he said.

Calvert made the case in Ottawa with a study on the effects of the unfairness of the equalization formula, said Serby. "He made a greater effort than past premiers and he refused to accept the disparity."

Serby said the pitch about leadership is not an election platform and the government fully expects to wait until its term is up. "This session set the template for the next four years," he said.

The unusual 12-day fall session is the beginning of a new approach that will see fall sessions every year, beginning in 2005, he said.

The government is also showing leadership in the way it's spending these new resources, said Serby.

He noted the plan to relieve property taxes by $55 million each year for two years, $137 for each household to keep utility rates the lowest in the country, investment in a forest fire fleet, $25 million to upgrade the provincial laboratory in case of catastrophic health issues, $40 million to build a new section on the jail in Regina.

The government has shown it's willing to continue to invest public dollars in rural Saskatchewan, as well, he said, taking a jab at the Opposition Saskatchewan Party that he says is unwilling to do the same according to its economic development strategy.

Serby said the loss of $7 million in provincial government education funding for the southeast region after school board amalgamation in 2006 is an indication taxpayers here finally are going to be asked to pay a fair level of school taxes.

Bakken said the session was about the government's failure to answer questions about Spudco, and its refusal to call a public inquiry, in spite of Serby's promise to answer all questions about the issue.

Her written questions were put on hold until the spring session, including those about the Weyburn connection to Spudco, a company called Microgrow. It was contracted to grow genetically modified potato seedlings for Spudco.

"I asked what happened to the potatoes that were grown and where the money went," she said. Six years later there are no answers, she said.

Saskatchewan Party MLA Elwin Hermanson said in the House he was told the information is still in a box in Outlook where the potato project was started.

Bakken said the session was also about ignoring farm families, working people and rural people, especially.

The amalgamation of rural school boards that will see children spend hours on a school bus, and the attempt to push through a new Municipal Act that will affect RMs and small towns whose councils haven't yet seen it, shows that, she said.

Bakken said the school board amalgamation means school boards that have been paying the whole school bill, with no assistance from the provincial government, will pay even more in the future.

They will pay to help educate children in the region while the government will use the money it saves to help offset the costs in other areas, she said.

Documents from the Education Equity Task Force show the new southeast education board planned for this area of the province can expect to receive $7 million less in operating grants from the provincial government after amalgamation in 2006 than the same boards received separately this year.

Bakken said she wonders if the oil industry that gives the area a higher tax assessment will stay if they have to pay even higher education taxes.

The big issue is the CAIS program for farmers which the government is funding by only 10 per cent, while hoping to get Ottawa to fund the other 30 per cent, she said. Out of the whole $900 million extra, the government had not one dime extra to help fund CAIS, she said.

A lot of farmers are getting their bills in and have to figure out how to live this winter and they don't even have the 2003 CAIS payout yet, said Bakken.

"The government is spending $1 billion more for health care than five years ago and Saskatchewan has the worst system in the country."

The $54 million it's spending to send $137 to each household on SaskTel bills is ridiculous, she said. "It's being frittered away to buy more votes."